Fort Worth Funk
Fort Worth gets its funk on with debut of new arts and music festival
A new arts festival aims to show what the Fort Worth art, film, and music scene has to offer the world. Funky Town Music and Film Festival will bring local and international musicians, filmmakers, and artists together for a three-day festival in September 2017.
Carlos Aguilar, who founded the film nonprofit Endeavor Cinema Group, got a hankering to create a film festival in Fort Worth around the same time that Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Adonis Rose started making plans to bring a music festival to Cowtown. The two were introduced through a mutual friend and together they founded the new hybrid music and film festival.
Funky Town will borrow from and improve upon aspects from other successful festivals to include all genres of music such as jazz, country, indie, rock, metal, and pop played at venues throughout the city. Big-name headliners will appear in lineups with hometown heroes.
"We want to display all of the talent we have here in Fort Worth and work from the inside out to make this a destination festival," Rose says. "When you bring the industry to your home, it gives local artists opportunities to showcase their talent."
Ticket holders will attend film screenings and panel discussions, and browse art vendors and public art throughout the day. After sunset, the party will continue at partner locations such as bars and clubs.
Funky Town is still in the early stages of planning and has yet to finalize dates, partnerships with food and beverage vendors, and possible camping/RV lodging. The founders promise lots of food truck options; local beer and a beer garden; and a heavy focus on education, reminiscent of the early days of Austin's South By Southwest festival.
"The weekend will be chock-full of panels," Aguilar says. "We're also nurturing relationships with local colleges and ISDs to have curriculum, classes, and internships integrated into the festival."
As for final details, expect Funky Town’s CHB (Chief Hype Bovine, that is) Deuce to announce plans by way of promotion videos that Aguilar and Rose hope will extend far beyond Fort Worth.
“We want Funky Town to be an inclusive festival that attracts people from all over the world,” Aguilar says. “After all, this is the arts — and artists don’t have boundaries.”
